Straight Ticket Mars And Back Again
by FlameShadow41
Summary: Spoken through the eyes of Shad Sente, ONI operative on his last mission aboard the ONI aganet team. Sente is sent to attempt to incept Project 525, Marina and GP1, Razor into the ONI army. A dramatic and dark fanfic from a created world.


"The Ticket to Mars And Back" by Flame Shadow   
  
It was a dark afternoon deep in the forest. The sunlight could barely penetrate the canopy to shine down upon the forest floor. The trees swayed with an unnatural rhythm. Something wasn't right. I'm Flame Shadow, my preferred code name. It was raining heavily that afternoon. I found myself deep in the jungle, on yet another mission for ONI. Life had been... hectic to say the least since I betrayed GUN. Project 525 had been the last thing I'd ever do on their staff list, to much horror was being done to the people who used as 'subjects'. I decided to leave after they killed one of the Subjects because he was 'Too Effective'. Without notice, I went AWOL. They have been chasing me for a while, but a while back I managed to fake my death well enough. The assassination attempts stopped. Now I work for a propaganda association call ONI or Office of New Intelligence. My current mission was to find Subject 525, my last association with GUN, and her counterpart, Who had been named 'Razor'. Intel said that both of them were down in the Canopy somewhere. 525 had recently made a hit on her main GUN holding facility and they were tracking her in the forest. Razor went unseen since his escape.   
  
The Vines and Flora were unnaturally thick, and it didn't help that the rain was matting it down and making it heavy. The forest floor was beginning to sop it up and make the terrain slippery. I maneuvered the best I could. For about 2 hours I headed in the direction of the GUN facility, until an update picked up sensor readings of 5 heat indications... humans, and one hedgehog. Great, rescue mission, I thought to myself. I moved as fast as I could towards the signatures. When I was close enough to make out some noise I climbed one of the 200 ft tall trees as fast as Lizardly possible. When I reach a branch some 50 feet off the ground I hefted my Rifle, an MA5B, Stock Sheathe Modified for long ranged combat, into my shoulder I looked down into the midst of the jungle foliage.  
  
What I saw that day had changed my life. "525..." I whispered. I looked through my scope and saw 3 things. There were 7 humans with gas masks on, all were gutted and bleeding profusely upon the damp jungle floor, 12 more stood with their M10's aimed at a tree trunk. They were nervous. Some shook visibly. A purple blur whipped around behind them and another GUN soldier hit the deck, his side serrated and dripping like leaky meat. The GUN soldiers fired wildly, a few shots careening into the tree stumps and wet trunks of tall trees in close vicinity. One must have landed a lucky hit, because a female scream caught my ear over the rain. A splash of mud kicked up next to one of the gigantic tree trunks and a small bush ruffled underneath the dark canopy. The GUN soldiers advanced toward it, and something lashed out at them, another fell to the marshy mud, a stream of red exploding out. It pooled before the GUN soldiers unloaded into it, shots flinging into the small piece of foliage. Multiple dull thuds were heard before a figure stumbled out from underneath it. A Purple Hedgehog. Project 525, she was alive. Or was in any case. The GUN troopers grabbed her and tossed her into the center of the cramped circlet under the trees. For a moment all they did was watch as the Hedgehog laid still, their guns still trained on her. It was obvious to me she was dead. Which was odd, because my INTEL said they self healed over time. But then it hit me as she stood up that the INTEL was right. She stood about 3 ½ feet tall, her graceful purple fur was slicked with mud and her white muscle shirt was caked and bloody. She gripped at one arm, the other holding a finely crafted sword. The Sword was smeared red.  
  
I though this may be a good time to intervene, my interest in data collection was pushed aside by the will for completing my task.   
  
"Outta My Way! Your lives aren't worth this! Leave now!" Project 525 yelled at the GUN troopers. She was obviously mad, and who wouldn't be? With a tap of the trigger, one GUN trooper hit the sloshing mud and others turned to look up at me. I descended down on a conveniently placed vine, finger letting off quick 3 round bursts. By the time I reached the bottom, the clip was empty, but so was the Troopers' chest cavities. With a nod of satisfaction I turned to Project 525. She was beautiful, in a certain way. A magnificence of Nature, if nature was what you could call her. She removed her hand from her arm, which was still bleeding. Mud and wet soil poured into the wound. Project 525 remained standing with a straight face. Her Purple fur was mottled with patches of blue that were barely noticeable under the caked mud and blood. Her eyes were wonderful, wild. Her shirt was red, from the White it had been a minute before. She slung the sword back over her shoulder and spoke to me.  
  
"Whose side are you on bub?" Project 525 said to me still in a ready battle stance.   
  
"Depends, whose side are you on?" I said back while decidedly reloading my smoking MA5B.   
  
"Well, obviously not with GUN." She pointed towards the bleeding or dead GUN Troopers on the marshy jungle floor behind her.  
  
"Good point." I felt it right to divulge to her my name. It felt odd at first because I was originally unaware that Project 525 could talk. I was set to believe she was a cold hearted killing machine. Her Eyes and demeanor set me straight, she was a living being. "Flame Shadow is my name, busting up goons is my game, or so it seems." I gave her a quick smile and reached out with one hand, in a gesture of kindness, the other still steady on the trigger.  
  
She stared at my hand, refusing to return the time honored tradition of the handshake, and instead moved past me.  
  
"Do you have a name? What do you call yourself?" I tried to inquire before she picked up the pace and got away from me. She stopped and turned over her shoulder and said.  
  
"Marina. Nice to meet you Flame Shadow." She smiled and kept walking, wading through the wet jungle. I tried to keep up, but she was much faster and skilled than I was at the time. Guess being a GUN experiment had it's advantages.  
  
"I don't want them to catch up to me again, I'm going to move faster... try to keep up if you want to." Marina said to me as she started to a slow trot, I did my best to move while carrying my usual loads of weapons and ammo. She was fast, I could only hope to keep up. She darted through the thick foliage, mere speed slicing some of it away. I, however, had to move aside the tangle and climb carefully through. I got snagged now and again and had to loosen the vines. After maybe 20 minutes of this, we got to a clearing in the vegetation. The rain was still coming down pretty hard, making this part of the forest floor especially slippery. Slosh covered the rocks and moss. She picked up her speed, with startling proficiency, she moved her legs inside her baggy pants at an unnatural speed, if you were there, you could barely notice movement, instead you would see a translucent wind. She took off towards the valley opening a few miles up. At the time it seemed she knew where she was going. I decided to keep pace, or at least try. No good. She was moving an easy 150mph. I could only move my lanky legs to notch it up to 100mph. I yelled as loud as I could, my sunglasses bouncing up and down on my nose. I kicked up the mud as I pushed harder than I thought I could push.  
  
I could feel the Friction on my shoes heating up, and it was hot. I knew if I went any faster I'd kill myself. I yelled at Marina to slow down, "Hey! Slow Down! I can't keep up! C'mon!" I guess she heard me. With a fluid grace, she took a small hop that landed her right in front of me, her back still to me. She looked over her shoulder as I huffed. "Ok, Lizard, I'll slow up, you having problems?" She smiled at me and seemed pleasant if not for a moment. I pumped my arms and tried to keep stride with her fluid pace, as she matched it to my speed. I pointed toward a small gap in the vanishing flora up ahead. The Wet jungle was gone and now we were in more of an open field, with small creatures much similar to the ones in the jungle meandering about. When we finally got there, I stopped and felt like throwing up. I amazed myself that I could even do that. She stopped with a firm foot plant, and halted immediately. She looked around, sniffing the air. I knew she was a better tracker than I was, so I decided to ask, even though I could barely talk as I huffed, "Any...thing?" I wondered if there were any traps around. This was still GUN territory, so it seemed to be a good question.  
  
"Nothing... So why are you helping me? I mean, why did you help me?" Marina had a confused look on her face as she decided to finally ask me a question.   
  
"Well, it looked... like you needed some help. Thought I'd lend a hand." I was still breathing pretty heavily as I looked up at her, standing a little more straight. "So... what's your story, I don't think it's right calling you Project 525 anymore. You are Project 525, aren't you?" She stopped dead for a moment and then called back, in a low, unhostile tone of voice,  
  
"Yes, yes I am. But that's just one thing I'm running from." She started heading toward the mouth of the Valley, an easy 100-130 ft drop ahead of her. I tried to jump out in front of her.  
  
"What are you running from again? Tell me, why does GUN want you?" I knew full well why they wanted her, but it was part of my mission to find out what she knew, especially about herself.  
  
"They just want to keep one of their weapons safe... That's all." She had a grim tone and cast her eyes to the ground. All I could do was stop, a pity. So she did know about herself. All I could think about was how horrible it must be knowing that you were designed, designed to kill none the least.   
  
"It must be hard to understand what you were, and what you're capable of, isn't it?" I tried to comfort her, as not to anger something that was easily more capable of killing me than I was of killing her.  
  
"Don't refer to me like I'm a weapon, I'm a living person." She was getting slightly angry with me, so I thought it best to say something soothing.  
  
"I'm sorry... Marina. I hope you know that you are very special indeed. There's a reason your number 525. What about those 524 before you?" I think back now and realize what a bad idea it was to say that.  
  
"I thought I told you to stop it." She looked over at me and flexed her sinewy muscles. For a split second I was quite worried. "There were 5 of us that escaped, well 4 actually now. The 5th was my brother. The rest of us were gunned down. Those of us alive... avoid exposure." I was taken aback by this, I didn't think GUN would actually gun down their own experiments. That might be the reason behind why those goons in the forest were trying to kill Project 525, or Marina as I now came to know her.   
  
"I hadn't heard of the others, the GPL Projects and the Ragnarok, wasn't it? I thought they all died during development." I tried best to lie through my teeth to get some more information out of her.  
  
"My brother was gunned down.... Eclipse." She said this last as she relaxed her arm. I think she had dealt with this pain and mourned for it. I closed my eyes.  
  
"Eclipse... wait. I remember now. Ice... Crimson...Tech...Bolt... Eclipse. Yes." An old test from a ways back was before my time with 525. Eclipse was part of the first in series of successful super soldier tests.  
  
"So they are alive then?" I quizzed as I opened my eyes.  
  
"Yes, they are alive. Except most of them work for GUN now. Assassins and Soldiers the lot of them." I froze. I didn't think that any of the Super Soldier Tests at GUN actually succeeded. But now that I heard that a few were alive and working for GUN, my blood ran cold.  
  
She grinned at me with a slight chuckle on her voice, "Do you know what this is?" She pulled her dreads back off her arm and wiped some mud away and showed me what looked like a band with a small circle directly in the center. It looked like an armlet. "Do you want me to tell you what this is? Even if you don't want to know, I'm going tell you." There was determination in her words. "This is the symbol of a Guardian. An Apprentice to be specific."  
  
"The guardians? Never heard of em." She pointed to small emerald hanging around her neck, attached to a string. It was shining and was completely clean, not a drop of mud on it.  
  
  
  
It was about then I heard a rustle in the trees behind me. I whipped around and shouldered my Rifle near the rustle of the trees. I saw something... else.   
  
"GPL1..." I was whispering to myself as I aimed at him, he slid down from the trees on a narrow vine and approached me and Project 525 at a casual pace.   
  
"Just noticed him now, hmm?" Marina had a tone of sarcasm in her voice as she looked at him and put her hands on her hips. The blood flowing from her had stopped. The mud had dried on her fur and clothes. Somehow, after all she'd been through, she maintained a sense of personality. I can't remember just what GPL1 looks like off hand, It's been a while. But he came towards me and Marina, he was very disarming. You wouldn't be able to tell he was bred for war.   
  
"Sorry I couldn't help but listen in, some of that information pertains to myself as well." He looked at me then Marina, his eyes widened. "You see, I'm Ragnarok.... Or as some call me, Razor." I was completely at a loss for breath as I left my gun limp in my hands. This was Ragnarok? This was GUN's ultimate soldier? I couldn't believe my eyes.   
  
"Well at least your not another spy. Come one, we should get moving." Marina got ready to jump off the Valley Face and to the thick canopy below. From where we stood, Nobody could tell just how far down the ground was. Thick mist rose up from the atmosphere down below. It looked an equatorial jungle from above. She leaped off, spreading her arms like a flying squirrel, and descended into the Mist below.   
  
"Wait!" I yelled out but was unable to catch her in time. Razor then leaped off the cliff after her, without even hesitating. Damned Super Soldiers... Why can't they sit still for at least a few minutes? I asked myself this question among many others, some more obscene than others, as I prepared myself for the imminent fall ahead of me. I closed my eyes and held onto my sunglasses and jumped as hard as I could. The next few minutes were a blurry in my mind, I think I suffered a concussion somewhere in there. I do remember the first few minutes of the jump, I went into a nose dive, keeping as straight as I could. When I reached the steamy overcast of the self-sustained jungle below I popped open my Coat like a Chute slowing my descent slightly. The mist was so thick I could barely see. Then it hit me... hard. The trees came out of nowhere and I clanked into a thick cropping of trunks, branches and other flora. I blacked out. I don't know how much later I woke up, but Marina and Razor were standing over me.  
  
"Had some problems I see?" razor chuckled and gave me a hand, obviously he was trying to help me up. I refused it and stood on my own.  
  
"You could say that I guess." I adjusted my sunglasses, which were remarkably unbroken. I checked my coat, made sure all of my weapons were safe and asked the 2 Super Soldiers, "So... Where are we going?"  
  
"We're heading back home, my home at least. And I got 2 lost puppies following me it seems." She lifted a corner of her mouth in thought. I was amazed she would give the 2 of us a level of trust at all with what she had gone through.   
  
"Whatever you say, I'm following you." I said, trying not to show them I really hurt, especially my head.  
  
"Just try to keep up, please, I'd really not like to slow down again." Both Marina and Razor laughed at that comment. I kept my cool, knowing that losing it wouldn't be worth my life.  
  
We waded through dense foliage and flora. The vines were as big as my body around. Mar moved around the vines, cutting at them. Razor, on the other hand, just walked through them, ripping them away as he moved. I however had to navigate through them. After maybe an hour of slow travel we finally stopped moving. Marina pointed up to a large wall of Vines.  
  
"Start Climbing."  
  
Ah hell I told myself. This just keeps getting better... doesn't it? Marina took a couple feet at a time, going at a good pace. Razor just jumped about half way to the top, then cleared it. I had to take it real slow, taking inch by inch. After maybe 10 minutes of climbing, I was about at the top. Marina's hand reached down over the ledge and helped pull me up.  
  
"Gotcha" She said as she smiled to me. "Take your time, we're almost there."  
  
"Almost?!" I sighed as I slumped slightly. Son of a Bitch, will it ever end? Well there wasn't enough time to really consider it. I threw off my trench coat. It was an easy 100 degrees Fahrenheit down in there. It was nice for a change, my lizard skin was usually flaky from the cold outer world, but now I could feel the moisture return to me. I held my coat in my hands, neatly folded.   
  
"Whoah, no wonder you had so much trouble climbing up that Wall." Marina pointed towards my harness, which I forgot about. I was strapped head-to-toe with Guns, Knives, Explosives, and the odd pouch here and there containing files.  
  
"Whoops, forgot I was wearing that today." I blushed and chuckled as they looked me up and down, not with surprise, but with a sense of judgement.  
  
"You need to strength train." Razor said, shortly and flatly. "It'll make carrying that stuff around a little easier." I felt like yelling at him that I, 'wasn't a bio enhanced super soldier', but decided against it. I closed my mouth, and felt like stuffing a sock into it. Instead I followed the 2 of them a little farther until we got to a stone wall, moss covered and all.   
  
"What now? Do I have to climb this too?" I stood with my neck craned back, trying to see the top.  
  
"No, here's home." Marina pushed her hand into a small rock that jutted from the face of the cliff wall. A small fence came up around us and we descended into the ground, the light vanished from above.  
  
We fell for maybe 2 minutes or so, until the elevator came to a dead stop, knocking me to the ground. Both Marina and Razor merely looked down at me and stepped of the elevator.  
  
"This place is positively cushy compared to what I'm used to." Razor observed the room in front of him, which was semi-decorated and colorful. Multiple elevators dotted one of the hallways, which was off to my right a ways.   
  
"Cushy?" Marina chimed in. "Yeah maybe."  
  
"Nice Place... I think." I tried to sound amazed, but the truth was I'd seen better in the underground bases back home. I forced myself to think that this was one person who put the place up however, and that thought astonished me.   
  
"The rooms are up those stairs." Marina pointed down a short hall off to my left as we stepped out of the foyer. "That is if you plan on staying. I never get guests." She smiled and continued down the halls. It wasn't my place to budge in, but asked anyways.  
  
"So we get our own rooms?" I looked attentively at Marina.  
  
"Sure, go on up and make yourself at home." She flicked her head in the general direction of the stairs. I could barely keep myself in one piece.  
  
"SWEET!" For a second I was almost disgusted with my lack of self-control but thought better of it. It had been weeks, maybe even months, since I've had a bed to sleep in, usually I had an office chair or a couch. I welcomed this new situation with open arms. I trotted over to the stairs and tried to keep myself from running. Razor fell in not to far behind me. Razor looked through some of the rooms, until he nodded with satisfaction and stepped inside. He threw off his long coat and it thwacked into the floor, causing it to crack. It was probably weighted. He then shut the door with a hissss and went back downstairs to attend to whatever business he had. I slunk into the first room I saw. The door closed behind me with the similar hiss sound, and clanged shut. I took in a heavy sigh and sucked my stomach in. I unhitched the clip on my harness and several weapons clanged to the ground. I felt 200 pounds lighter. Now, in hindsight, it may have actually been 200 pounds. I set my coat down on the nice, clean bed that was neatly lain out. I went back out through the door, and downstairs. I was going to ask Marina something about a shower, but neither she nor Razor was anywhere to be seen.  
  
Hmm... I though as I went through and inspected the various trinkets I saw lying around. Nothing piqued my interest, so I went back upstairs. I noticed another sliding door at the back of my spacious 8 by 8 room. I stepped closer to it. It whooshed open and I glanced inside. No traps... All clear. I was paranoid, who wouldn't be in this kind of situation? After I realized there really was nothing here to harm me I went in. A shower...*drool*. I noticed the shower, it's interior was spacious and comforting. I removed my Boots and Bracers and stepped inside. I turned up the water as hot as it cold go. Aaaahhh, I'm home. The water felt so good. The humidity returned to my flaky, scaly skin. I felt at home. The jungle... the trees... the thick air. It was perfect. I soaked for maybe 20 minutes. I came back to the harsh realization that I had a mission to do. Recruit 525 and GP1 if at all possible. I was told to do such a thing. If we could only have such a force on our side... No. Wait. I needed more information.  
  
I stepped out of the shower completely relaxed. I dried off, reluctantly. I threw my clothes on, minus my harness, and went back down the stairs. I looked around again, and saw a room I hadn't seen before. I stepped inside. It was like a kitchen, except it was huge. There was a large table in the middle of the room, with counters and burners surrounding it on the wall trim. Food was lain out if such vast quantities, I accidentally drooled.   
  
"Oh hello there, you must be o—" A small and quaint voice startled me and I threw up my hands in a self defense posture, but immediately threw them back down. "I'm sorry, did I frighten you? I'm Trice, Marina's friend. Nice to meet you." She stood a little straighter and put her hands behind her back. She smiled at me.  
  
"I'm Wi... err... Flame Shadow, nice to make your acquaintance." I almost said my real name to her. A bad move indeed. I held out my hand in a gesture of friendship that got refused more oft than accepted.. To my surprise, she accepted it and shook rather indifferently. She was a very neat looking Fox, her soft blue dress and black belt being noticeable beneath her white apron. " Is all this food for me?" I smiled at her and sat at the table, waiting for her response.  
  
"I'm calling the others up to dinner now." She picked up a microphone off the counter. "Will all personnel report to level 1 please for dinner." She put it back down and stood at the doorway. In about 2 minutes, Marina and Razor came back up through an elevator at the end of the hall. Marina was neatly cleaned. Her bright Purple Fur was gleaming in the low artificial light. The Blue streaks running through her locks were striking. They hung loose out over her eyes and swayed as she walked. I realized I was paying far to much attention and turned away.  
  
Razor and Marina came through the door and sat down as well. Razor kind of hesitated before pulling up a chair, I think he was more accustomed to standing.  
  
"Dig in everyone!" Trice threw up her hands and gave the signal it was A O K to stuff our faces. I almost saw her smile as she watched us enjoy her cooking.   
  
After a hearty meal, we loosened our belts beside Razor, who had a hyperbolic metabolism, compliment of GUN, which he said wasn't a gift.   
  
"So, where did you all meet? I haven't seen any of you in this part of the jungle before. How about you? Flame Shadow, is it?" She tilted her head and looked at me.  
  
"Well I sort of bumped into her in the jungle, well, some would call it chasing after." Marina laughed.  
  
"How about you, hey I didn't get your name." Trice looked toward Razor as he blinked.  
  
"I am Razor." that's all he said.  
  
"Oh, and how did you find Marina today?"   
  
"Well..." He stopped to think for a moment... "I overheard Marina and Flame Shadow disclosing some information in the jungle, so I decided to listen in, they noticed me, and having no where else to go, I followed Marina back here." He said a few other things about importance, but my thoughts were straying elsewhere. When I started to listen again, he disclosed his origins to us, I think I missed Trice's question that was directed at him.  
  
"I was GP1, the failure, but there was successes as well. Such as Edge, GP2. The third was deemed 'too successful' and was put on ice for research. His name was Seryf and he was the closest thing I had to a brother..." He fell silent for several seconds, but my eyes and attention were glued on him. "Project Ragnarok got the works...Super strength, hyper fast metabolism and reflexes, enhanced night vision, and Filament Coatings on my bones that made them tougher than diamond now. I'm the Super Soldier GUN intended me to be. First In, Last Out." I think he was done saying all that he had to say, so obviously, the question rotated to me.   
  
"How about you?" I froze for a moment and decided that I should tell them.  
  
"I worked for GUN for several years and I—" Everyone glared me down. "—worked on you Marina... 525. That was my last deal with GUN. They hired me on after I got out of school. They saw potential in me to be a sadist, I guess. That ended when I saw how they acquired their test subjects. I had been lied to, they told me that, 'They were volunteers straight out the military.' " I laughed. "And that wasn't BS...Right." The others relaxed, seemingly satisfied with my solution. All except for Marina, who merely stared into her dinner plate. She knew I was part of her problem, that I was one person responsible for her ordeal. It was hard for me to face her at the moment, but said anyways. "You ok?"  
  
"Sure, I'm ok. I don't blame you for what you did. GUN are propagandist pigs, and they spread their lies like pesticide. It's just..." She stopped and quieted. I could understand.   
  
"Well I think I'll retire for the night if that's ok with you all. Thank you kindly for the dinner Miss Trice. I gave her a bow for courtesy purposes. I went back up to my room, as Razor and Marina continued to chat at the table. I laid down in my nice comfy bed and thought about the last couple days, I started to doze off...  
  
...It was maybe a week ago...  
  
"Alright, here's the deal, Will. We have some reliable information from our guy in GUN that your last subject, 525, is making a break for it in the Jungle about 600 miles south of here. We think that she will be heading to her last known contact, a Trice ze Fox. We think she may have something to do with 525's Guardian background. We think your one of the more capable people of handling this mission. I know, we do have better, stronger, quicker operatives. But you are by far the luckiest." I tended to agree with him. I had survived despite uncountable, and often annoyingly hard to calculate, odds. Out of all this time, I had never been particularly injured or otherwise. "... We also think that having some connection with 525 will help our chances of recruiting 525 into ONI. I think if you make your proposal at the right time, after earning her trust, that we could have a VERY powerful ally on board."   
  
"Ok, let me get this straight... You want ME to track and gain the trust of a cold, hard killing machine? Isn't that a little outside of our parameters here? I mean.... Uhmm... 525 was designed to kill, what's my guarantee that she won't kill me! " I shifted uncomfortably in my form fitting chair in the dark and dry conference room.   
  
"Well, that's not for either of us to decide, you can either accept it or leave it for someone else with a lesser chance of success... or survival. Either way, we're ordered to try and in sept 525."  
  
  
  
I thought about it, looking into 525's deep eyes yet again. The thought horrified me. Seeing her again after all I did to her... after all she'd done to get out... I wanted to let her stay free. I had a duty. I didn't know if she'd kill again or not. So I finally piped up...  
  
  
  
"Yes, I'll take the mission, no one here is more qualified."  
  
"Good... go suit up, your usual array of weapons is ready for you." Mohl pointed to the door and removed his cigar, took in a whiff and stepped out of the room via a back door. I wasn't ready for this... I wasn't ready to deal with the horrors of my past yet. I wanted to die. I wanted to suffer for what I'd done, but all I got was acceptance and praise. Not one person told me what I had done was wrong. I hated it more than anything. I grabbed up my equipment and set out. Without any transportation besides an air drop, this was going to be interesting.  
  
I sat strapped into my seat aboard the drop jet, which was flying at an altitude of 1000 feet, merely because the GUN drones in the area would most certainly shoot it down if it were below 400 feet. I closed my eyes and tried to relax my quaking stomach. I was always queasy for one reason or another. Probably because I spent the majority of my time at a desk job. My position in ONI, wasn't, shall I say... Superior. I did a lot of grunt work for the ranking officers. Like 4 days ago, before I set out on my mission, Corporal Haft sent me to destroy 3 batches of sensitive files... Yay. But on the rare occasion, they let me leave the base and do some real work. Usually staging an uprising, or meeting with outside contacts. This was.... different than those before it.   
  
"Okay boyo, drop in 30 seconds, prepare for a rough ride, the turbulence is picking up!"  
  
I opened my eyes and unstrapped myself. My flight suit was awfully tight against my body. It was extraordinarily uncomfortable. I thought about that for a few more seconds, until I had a new problem. The back hatch opened up and the expanse of the sky lay before me. The wind kicked into the compartment and nearly pulled me out, thank you emergency handles. "Ok, drop in 3...2...1, Hit it!" I dove out the back of the compartment. It was the biggest rush I had ever experienced. I curled into a ball and pointed my horn towards the ground. I had never moved so fast, the wind was whipping furiously at my face and suit, which, remarkably got tighter. When I hit the atmospheric barrier, the clouds puffed up and surrounded me. They were dark and dreary. I curled into a ball and spread my arms to slow the speed. I passed through the clouds, their fury engulfing me. Hail and rain erupted around me, Lightning danced from cloud to cloud. Thunder deafened me. It was quite an experience. I burst forth from the clouds and the rain pounded on my back. The ground was no more than 300 feet away. I popped my chute and drifted close to my LZ. Hold out... c'mon, hold out. My chute was about to give under the rain.  
  
Maybe 10 minutes later, I made touchdown. I threw off my suit and let myself free once more. The mission was on...  
  
...And that was a week ago, I spent 7 days looking for Marina in the Jungle...  
  
I snapped out of my snooze and returned to present day. I yawned. I heard a sort of click. I listened more closely this time. Click ziiiip, click. "What the..." I walked over toward the wall where the sound was coming from. I pressed my head up against the wall. "On 10... 9... 8... 7..."  
  
A voice came through fairly clearly. It was... human. GUN....Damnit! I was already to late to warn the others. The wall exploded outwards. I was knocked flat against the opposite wall. I slid down it and crumpled into a heap on the floor. Dozen's of GUN soldiers flew into the room. I stood, grabbed up what few weapons I could in time and gave fire. I tried to exit the room, but no luck.   
  
Ugh... I've been hit... I looked down at my wounds, I was bleeding... heavily. I shot until I ran out of the room. I backed up into the hallway and fell, aiming towards my door. Nothing came out. Marina appeared behind me, she had apparently been hit a few times herself, but her self healing metabolism was already kicking in. The blood stopped to a halt right in front of my eyes. I started to black out, the loss of blood was getting too bad.   
  
"Marina... I...am. Sorry...." My voice started to drift off, but I remained conscious. I tried to limp down the stairs. "No... My files..." I tried to turn around and get them, but Razor hoisted me off the ground.   
  
"He's injured..." He roared as he said it. He shot off in another direction with me over his shoulder. Marina appeared beside me and whispered, "I got them, don't worry." I started to black out, my vision was starting to smear red and became tunnel in nature. I could only see what was directly in front of me, and that was blurry at best. The bounce of Razor's stride was sending blood to my head, and it made me dizzy. We stopped finally. I looked around, kneeling on the floor. We were in some sort of hangar. I saw Trice, Marina, Razor, and my hands, which were covered in my own blood. I fingered my bullet wounds and shrapnel punctures. I went into shock, no pain could halt me. Marina's mouth moved, but no sound came. I saw Razor and Marina run toward the GUN soldiers. All I could do was heft my 2 weapons into a hostile position and open fire, I held the trigger until I had no more ammo left and my gun went tick, tick, tick.   
  
The last thing I saw... was Him, he exploded from the GUN lines and grabbed up Razor by the throat, tossed him into a wall and rushed Marina next. My head bobbed and looked down on my chest. I held up my hands. They gripped my guns. Everything was soaked in blood. This... Is... It. . . . . . I can .... finally... Die. I closed my eyes with a small grin on my face. The floor rushed to meet me as the Darkness took. My eyes closed, and I awaited my first glimpse of paradise.  
  
Part 2... The Pain Inside   
  
  
  
I floated helplessly through the void. Beings tugged at my soul, wishing to devour it. Space around me was a mockery of existence. The air, if indeed there was any, was thick, then light. It played with me. I felt my chest tugged away from my body. The creatures that dwelled within this 'warp' or 'limbo' or 'afterlife' wanted me. They clawed and tore. My sight was blurry and swirling. I couldn't see more than 5 feet in front of me, or maybe is was 500 feet. In this realm, nothing was as it should be. It was chaotic and vertigo filled what was left of my soul. If this was paradise, I could not even fathom what sinister evil lied in purgatory . For what seemed like years I fought back the denizens of this evil realm with what remained of my tattered sanity. Every second of every minute traveled past me like a slug traveling downward on the skyway. Every moment I witnessed was only full of pain and internal agony.   
  
I felt I could not stand any more and I felt my essence draining from me, much like a leaky faucet, steadily dripping. I could only fight with my mind, and not my hands or my weapons. This battle, I was sure, would never end. I would not have a moments respite to ponder my situation. All I felt was the puncturing of my mind, and the robbing of what was left of my spirit. I finally just gave up, and let whatever these things were, cut me to ribbons. I did not react to them. All I could do was spiral through the void, accepting my fate. My memory slowly faded. Every new second brought on a feeling of loss and bewilderment. What was it I had lost? What was this feeling? Was something missing? I couldn't fit the sentences together in my head but I could feel them. All seemed lost, all seemed hopeless. I drifted slowly away from myself. I felt as if I was looking down on my own being, yet it wasn't physical. An extreme sense of vertigo overcame me, like I was aloft in space, weightless. What was left of my body was ragged and decayed. My head bobbed to and fro as I spun through this place. Nebulas and Galaxies, Stars and Comets whizzed past my view. They assaulted again. For seconds I was in agony, then they left me adrift again. I gritted my teeth until the pain passed... but I lost something again... What was it!? All I could feel was hate and anger, followed by utter despair. I floated and received several treatments from the beasts of this Ethereal Existence. This wave was unlike anything before. Hundreds of scratches, bites, and punctures rattled me. I wanted to scream but nothing came.   
  
Rennyutyu Terrson Huuyterad Onisudfen Ju'nen.  
  
Hunen Fental Juys Ferr~us... Intuyy. Nojen.  
  
Kiih Te'ran. Mak Tesánn. Mak Fentrru. Tenture. Tenture.  
  
The beasts reeled in terror from me. I knew then what they were trying to take from me. My Memory and my Mind. Tenalsset! Tuno er unnteljen, gefhun sentrul ino Oni hentru asa dawal, CON TYRES FE'FEB, YUSTERO ! I spoke in a language I did not understand as my memories flooded back into me. Nothing, and I meant nothing would invade my thoughts.... ever. It was mine, and I would be damned if these things were going to take it. No thing nor being, supernatural nor material would dare tamper with my mind. With a roar, which was audible in this chaotic realm, I challenged them all. They would have to deal with my head before they could take my body. They fled in terror. One stepped forward, extraordinarily larger than the rest. In this swirling realm, it was at least 100 times larger than myself. Efun,... desdec ju... I could feel a swing of mighty proportions knock me to one side. The creature roared, it was feeling arrogant. For again what seemed like an eternity, I battled against this creature. With a final burst of mental sanity, I sent this thing to wherever it came. I drifted once more and nothing questioned me.   
  
The past is a maw that gapes and bites at your heels. It devours whatever remains of yourself, it consumes you. While your body may be tattered, the mind is still strong, but even the strongest of us succumb to the dark. Nothing can change the past. Nothing can fix your wrongs, nothing can make you better. You may swirl about in a mist or abyss of your own creation, but in the end it is you who will pull away from it. Death. Tragedy. Personal Loss. Mistakes made. Only the person can control their fate. Some people like to think that Fate is the ultimate controller of all that lives and dies. They are wrong. Nothing can stop time, nothing can ever be fixed. What happens, is fate, and fate is non existent, but only if you take it by the leash and command it. My past... is filled with horror. Nothing other than never ending pain. Some see me as the perfect heartless being. They are also wrong. I feel as any other being. I try to deal with my past, but the pit sinks and consumes me more every day. My ragged sanity hangs by a spindle thread, hanging on, but just. I sew it every day, I mend the pieces that have been torn away, I stitch the time and the pain. These notions are vain, they only lead me deeper into the darkness that broods behind my eyes. My eyes, they are hollow of feeling, they stare blankly into the past and refuse to accept it has passed. That the end is finally come. They are deceived. They are part of this never ending pain. I feel it in my stomach, it turns my veins to ice, my fluids to ice water. I am cold. I am dead. I am not that needs to be feared. I am... Ended. This game will never end, this match will end only in utter defeat. Checkmate. I climb myself to the top, only to be washed away and thrown back down. My dreams themselves are black, dark as the night that spawns them. I can't run any longer. I can't just hide and use the shadows as my shield. No. The Time for that has passed. I may be dying, but my cause is that of the Angels themselves. I am only mortal. The heavens gaze down upon me. They shun me in the open, but support me in the shadows. They give me strength. They force me into my stupor of pain and the orgy of suffering and insanity. No one is listening, no one hears me whistle. My tune echoes through the minds of those who are fortunate enough to witness the light I bring. My guardian watches over me. He directs me, even through this dark time. Rennyutyu Terrson Huuyterad Onisudfen Ju'nen. Awake Mak... You have passed your test... Awake... TENTURÉ!   
  
A low tune echoed in my head, which was beating, hard. A crippling headache. I saw black. I realized I was... alive. The warmth of blood flowing through my veins, the pound of my head, and the ache in my chest, all confirmed my theory. I tried to open my eyes. The room was swirling and twisting. I threw up as I leaned over my bed. Blood and Chunder made up the majority of it, along with injected fluids. My body throbbed like a steady drum beat. I breathed... heavily. I tried to sit up, but all I could do was heave when I attempted such a task. I fell back into coma. This was my paradise. Thick Jungle, steamy temperatures, the freedom, the noise. Once more I was home. I felt relaxed, but the sonorous chant came back to me... It stalked me.   
  
Rennyutyu Terrson Huuyterad Onisudfen Ju'nen.  
  
Hunen Fental Juys Ferr~us... Intuyy. Nojen.  
  
Kiih Te'ran. Mak Tesánn. Mak Fentrru. Tenture. Tenture.  
  
I snapped up. I was fully awake. I looked where I was. The nausea had passed and I was in a dark, sterile room. The air was stale and recycled. I heard nothing. It was complete quiet. Nothing interrupted my endless speculation. I looked down at my chest, remembering slightly the encounter I'd had with death before I slipped into the world of darkness. I remembered nothing of it. With a somber stare, I ran my hand over the healed bullet wounds. There were maybe 10... maybe more. I had to pull the bandages aside to view the wounds themselves. They were horrendous. Scars covered the majority of my chest and stomach. I looked away. My vision was alight with a clarity of nothing I had ever seen. I was covered side to side, head to toe with wires. Machines watched me over and monitored my vitals. I gazed in horror. They all were flat lined. I stared for seconds, but it felt like hours. I threw my legs over the edge of the bed, and stood up.   
  
Vertigo overcame me, the world was twisted. Everything around me contorted into violent patterns and colors, swirling about, mocking me. I fell to the floor. The vision stopped. I tried to stand again, but nothing of the sort before happened. I took in a large breath and tried to walk. My joints were stiff and made it very painful and difficult. I heard something robotic inside me as I attempted this. I stopped. It didn't sound again. I threw on my clothes, which were still bloodstained. I limped to the door and put my hand on it. The Visions overcame me again. I saw something... but what it was I didn't know. I saw Marina... and Him. They moved their mouths and from it I deciphered 'Edge'. They were in front of a steel door. A Hedgehog, Steel but bearing semblance to one stood next to 'Edge', his eyes blaring red. I saw Marina. She was struggling with a brace around her neck. The vision panned up and the sky was dark, not from lack of light, but things filled it. They were robotic. Explosions dotted the atmosphere. I felt the return to reality as I again nearly fell to the floor. I didn't know what to make of it all.  
  
I turned the door knob. It opened with a greased perfection. I limped out into the hallway. Everything was white and I recognized where I was. Home. Back at the ONI base in the northern country. Technicians scurried about, I noticed one I knew, his name was Reaf. I tried to wave to him, but he cowered in fear and disbelief, then ran off, moving extremely quickly. I almost fell once again when I turned to see him run. I continued forward. After rounding multiple corners and multiple people screaming in terror at me. I finally found a familiar face. Mohl. He was bickering with Stane, a Marshall in the ONI military outfit. I tapped on his shoulder. He spun around with his snide, "Yea, wudda you wa—." He stopped dead and stared at me, his mouth dropped open and his cigar fell. His eyes glazed.   
  
"But you... your... dead..." His voice quivered.  
  
"What!? I'm right here, what do you mean I'm dead?" It was then I remembered. The Vitals, they were flat lined. What is happening to me? I looked down then up again at Mohl, who could only stare at me in disbelief.  
  
"You've been dead... for 2 days..." He stepped back and finally snapped out of his stupor. "What is going on here Stane? You said he was gone..." 


End file.
